Caregiver-infant interactions

• Reciprocity is when an infant and a mother respond to each others signals.
• Interactional synchrony is when an infant and a carer mirror each other's behaviours.

  
  

  Isabella et al. observed 30 mothers and babies together and assessed the degree of synchrony and the quality of attachment.

  ->She found that high levels of synchrony were associated with higher-quality attachment.
• Limitation) Its hard to observe baby behaviour because they are not very coordinated which means that its hard to interpret he meaning of babies behaviour. e.g. a baby moving their hand in response to their mother may just be a random twitch.
• Strength) Research done on mother-baby interactions are often filmed, from multiple angles which allows for detailed analysis of behaviour. Also because the babies don't realise they are being observed, their behaviour doesn't change.